Danube Delta, Brown Bears and Wild Cats

On arrival at Bucharest airport you will be met and driven 3 hours driving to the Black Sea lagoons where we will spend 2 nights in a charming rural hotel. Today activities will depend on our arrival time into the capital. We will have dinner at 19:00 in the hotel than and after dinner we will drive a couple of hours in the dark to look for mammals like Golden Jackal, Badger, Brown Hare, Hedgehog and Steppe Mouse.

Accommodation: Mid-range hotel

Breakfast at 8.00 o`clock than after breakfast we going to explore some steppe habitats for Isabelline Wheatear, Pied Wheatear, Levant Sparrowhawk and European Souslik. Close to this area there is a natural cave where bats are gathering. Schreiber`s Bent-winged Bat and Greater Horseshoe Bat plus any exciting rarities are possible in this cave. We will drive back to the accommodation for lunch. In the late afternoon and evening we will go spotlighting for rare mammal species.

After breakfast we leaving the Black sea lagoons behind and drive a bit north to reach Tulcea the gateway of the Danube Delta. We going to explore this fantastic area with a comfortable wildlife watching boat designed for 12 guests including guides plus boat driver. We will drive to our Hotel direction but stopping in every interesting place for birds and other wildlife. We will surely came across with groups of White and Dalmatian Pelicans and White-tailed Eagle. Lunch will be in the Hotel restaurant. After lunch we will walk around the Hotel fallowed by an early dinner and back to the boat for an evening drive. We would like to find Wild Cat, Racoon Dog, Stoat, Golden Jackals or even the rare European Mink

Accommodation : Pensiunea lui Ivan, Chilia Veche

We going to have a full day in the Danube Delta visiting lakes and wooded channels for birds and other Delta wildlife in the morning. Lunch in the Hotel than we going to walk again around the accommodation. We will serve the dinner from 19.00 PM in the Hotel, than out again for a few hours in the dark. Finding mammals is much efficient in the dark than in the daytime.

After breakfast we going to leave our Delta accommodation and drive back to Tulcea with our boat. In Tulcea we will jump back to the bus and starts our journey to Transylvania but going to spend one night up in the Vrancea Mountains. If our time allows in the late afternoon we will visit Balta Alba salt lake after we crossed the Danube by a ferry. This place is famous wetland site and excellent birdwatching site in Autumn as well as some great steppe habitat with the possibility of some scarce mammals such as Steppe Polecat.. We also have a night-drive in the Carpathians.

After breakfast we leave Lepsa area and drive deeper into Transylvania. We will stop briefly in the highest part of this road pass to find some higher elevation bird species like Crested Tit, Crossbill or even Pygmy Owl. We will slowly (with several stops) reach our next base in Sub Cetate – Harghita Mountains. The evening dinner will be in the Bear Lodge before heading out for our first night-drive in the area.

Accommodation : Hargita Bear Lodge

After breakfast we will dedicate our time to the Hargita Mountains. We will drive to the higher parts of the mountain and after lunch we will explore a few small cave looking for Lesser Horseshoe Bats. In the late afternoon we will go to our dedicated bear watching hides. We will position ourselves in the hide for the last hours of the day when we have the biggest chance for the bears to come. Normally we spend 2-3 hours in the hide. In September at dusk we might see other mammals too such as Edible Dormouse, Yellow-necked Wood Mouse or even Pine Marten. The bear session will run into the dark so after dinner no night excursion today.

Today at dawn we will experience the Red Deer rutting season which is at its peak in September. After breakfast we will visit the Bicaz Gorge National Park for Wallcreeper and Carpathian Chamois. We will be back to the Lodge for lunch. In the afternoon we can visit a place where Brandt`s Bats sometimes spending the day and Red Squirrels come for walnut than we can drive higher to explore some coniferous woodland for more species. Evening dinner in the Lodge and we will have a night-drive until 23.30

On our last full day we will visit the Szentpál Fishponds and various other forests areas near Sighisoara. A short-visit also possible to the birth place of Vlad Dracul. We will search for any of our remaining targets today. We also plan to look for Eurasian Beaver at dusk which will be followed by our farewell dinner.

After breakfast we will drive back to Bucharest Airport where you will finish your Romania wildlife holiday with Wildlife Trails.